By Simran Kalkat, Courier Book Reviewer
Six years have passed since the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. Many thought that this would be the last they would see of Harry Potter until, of course, J.K Rowling, along with screenwriters John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne, decided to finally let us know what became of Harry Potter and his family by dropping what many consider to be the eighth book of the series; “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”
Written as the script for the West End play in London, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” picks up where we left Harry Potter and his friends at the King’s Cross station. Nineteen years have passed, and the friends return to King’s Cross station once again, this time to send their children off to Hogwarts.
Harry’s son, Albus Severus Potter is anxious and nervous to start his first year at Hogwarts. He soon realizes that he is expected to live up to his father’s ideals of bravery and courage, and that is something he cannot handle. For Harry, Hogwarts was a safe haven, and his first true home, but for Albus, Hogwarts is a place where he comes to constantly be reminded of how difficult it is to be the son of the legendary Harry Potter. This makes him increasingly bitter towards his father. He befriends Scorpius Malfoy, the son of his Harry’s childhood enemy, Draco Malfoy, and then gets sorted into Slytherin house. Of course, his father had promised and assured him that there is nothing wrong with being a member of Slytherin, however Harry still can’t seem to accept this. With so many differences, the two cannot understand each other, and that leads to things falling apart between them
The trouble begins when Amos Diggory pays Harry a visit to ask if he can use a Time Turner to stop his son from being killed by Lord Voldemort at the Triwizard Tournament. Scared of the consequences that come from messing with time, Harry tells Amos Diggory that even though he is sorry for what happened to his son Cedric, it would impossible for him to come back. Amos Diggory, frustrated, leaves with his niece and caretaker, Delphini Diggory.
Albus sees this as an opportunity to accomplish something extraordinary. Sick of being overshadowed by the accomplishments of his famous father, Albus takes matters into his own hands, without thinking twice about all that can go wrong when messing with time. He convinces his best friend Scorpius to join him, which he does reluctantly, and together, the two of them set off to find the illegal Time Turner being held by the Ministry of Magic, and go back to 1994, the year of the Triwizard Tournament.
We see things in this story that we never had the chance to see before. With their sons in danger, Harry and Draco put aside past differences and work together in order to do whatever it takes to save them. The beginnings of a possible friendship between Harry and Draco begins to emerge as their feud and childhood enmity begins to fade away. They do have their differences in the start, but soon enough, both of them come to realize that they’re not that different. Both of them care deeply about their sons, but realize that they don’t completely understand them, and what their children really need from their fathers.
But most important, this book tells the story of Harry Potter as we have never been able to see before. He may have accomplished the impossible task of bringing down Lord Voldemort, and saving the wizarding world from the rule of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, but that doesn’t mean he has everything figured out. Harry hasn’t quite understood how to be the parent that all his three children need. This new “Harry Potter” installment doesn’t focus on taking down a Dark wizard, although that is a part of it; it is about the journey that Harry takes so that he can finally see who his son truly is, and the relationship between him and Albus
On some levels, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” doesn’t compare to previous “Harry Potter” books. Unfortunately, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” doesn’t bring back all of our favorite characters, such as the entire Weasley clan, and many of Harry’s former classmates. Many “Potterheads” have decided not to read it, fearing that their view of Harry, and the wizarding world might change. While it is true that the story might veer off in directions that no one would prefer it to go to, it is an important part of getting finally getting to know who “The Chosen One” really is when he isn’t trying to get rid of Lord Voldemort.
Although the “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is told differently from the first seven books, there is one thing that they all have in common, and that is the unwavering love of family, and true friends that will stay by your side, even when it may not be easy.